The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 16, 1981, Page Page 2, Image 2
Editorial"
Kii ?i i .
Colun
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Last Wednesday, Editori
wrote the following column c
incident of seeing two gay i
sexual act in a Russell Houst
the column, is a samplin,
since the column was printec
As strange as it may sou
Halloween. I suppose it v
because I only made it half-1
floor Russell House bathroon
I unexpectedly interrupte
room, but I wasn't shocked ;
After all, I had learned R
common.
AFTER almost four years
those years spent working in
''gay awareness." I was au
numbers and drawings (pe:
cised gay artists) that apj;
scratched on bathroom wa!
with the good stuff when the i
I was aware through past
TO THE EDITOR:
Your editorial ol
Nnvpmhpr 11 th?
Closet") only demonstrates
further your ignorance ol
significant issues and youi
inability to deal with
problems in any coherent
way. In your effort to articulate
an issue which
should be of concern to the
Carolina community, you
somehow manage to defeat
the purpose of your
argument by obfuscating
rather than clarifying the
problem and alternative
solutions to that problem.
Your editorial not only
underscores your
homophobic tendencies bul
demonstrates an inability tc
argue logically or com
municate ideas effectively.
Your editorial essential!}
contains two positions. First
bathroom sex is
"disgusting." This point
shall not argue. Your secon<
point ? homosexuals shoulc
be forced back into the close
? is not only archaic bu
does not solve the firs
problem. It is the sign of <
healthy society that in
divfduals are no longei
ashamed of their actions
People who choose alter
native lifestyles are equally
free to express themselves
under the Bill of Rights, i
document with which I arr
sure you are familiar. Anj
effort to "drive homos bacl
into the closet" would no
only be a step backwards bu
would probably increas<
TO THE EDITOR:
As a heterosexual readei
of the Gamecock, I suppose
that qualities me 10 responc
to Mr. Weatherbee's
editorial. However, insteac
of answering his lettei
directly, I would like to pose
a counter question. What arc
you going to do about all oi
the heterosexual couples
who make love in public? Nc
one needs pornographic
magazines when all one
needs to do is take a stroll
around the Horseshoe
Gibbes Green area on a
warm summer's nignt. wnai
are you going to do about the
heterosexual couples who
stand in front of the dorms
in Stirs I
al Page Editor Don Weatherbee
ibout homosexuals and a specific
men engaging in a questionable
; third floor bathroom. Following
g of the letters we've received
f.
nd I had a gay experience last
wasn't a total gay experience
way through the door of a third11
before I retraced my steps,
d a loving couple in the men's
and disgusted ? only disgusted,
ussell House gays weren't unat
USC, with one and one-half of
the Russell House, 1 developed a
^are of mens' names, telephone
rhaps made by the more exer- .
>eared mysteriously written or
lis and then disappeared along
walls were later cleaned.
reports by campus sources that
traffic in the bathrooms. The
f solution to the problem lies
; not in closing the closet door
? but rather in opening doors
F which will lead to the
elimination of the need for
i such clandestine activity.
C..^L ? t tl M -in - - -
oucii a noerai person as
yourself must surely see the
i benefits of open com!
munication and head-toi
head confrontation with the
issue at hand. Efforts made
to encourage other types of
! forums through which
! homosexuals can meet will
! increase community
awareness of this growing
minority and also eliminate
the need for further
t "disgusting behavior."
>
FINALLY, I challenge the
"eracity of several sections
' of your editorial. For
? example, do you mean to
> suggest that the entire
1 Roman Empire took part in
* homosexual activity?
i Similarly, I am curious as to
t the reference "someone" in
t the context of the creation of
t Adam and Steve if that
* someone wasn't the same
creator of Adam and Eve.
r In conclusion, the editorial
staff of the Gamecock should
show better judgment in the
? "opinions" which they print
5 so freely in the pages of their
* journal. Irresponsibility and
1 incoherencv do not an
f award-winning newspaper
t make.
t
t GREGG FATA
5 Columbia, S.C.
and classroom buildings as
mey passionately Kiss eacn
; other good-bye? If you
I consider public bathrooms to
? be public places, consider
I this. Frequent air travellers
have a rather unofficial
? society called the Mile High
; Club. To gain membership in
F this society a couple must
; make love in an airplane
bathroom while in flight.
* IS THIS enough for you,
I Mr. Weatherbee? Either you
take all sex out of public
places and throw it into the
closet, or you get off of
everyone's back.
? VALERIE F. LESTER
History Senior
Pa ffrfor
Russell House homos are not s
although the image fits. Gays
tides in the past, complete
sporadic violence, and probabl;
I was aware when a former
told me he occasionally, while
bathrooms. And one night, afl
fice, I found trash cans hold
.Russell House bathrooms. I w;
cans came to be there, althougl
of a lazy page,
AND I was aware, with all th
to avoid any peculiar confronts
I will share with myself part of
two men last Halloween. I ar
because I neglected to avoid
been trying to avoid an una'
realized that gays are tumbling
dirty laundry.
Although the Bible says G
somewhere along the line sor
Steve, because homosexuality
Remember the infamous Roma
Thus, it would probably
Letters To T
TO THE EDITOR:
I have to agree with Mr.
Weatherbee that the faggots
that han0 arnnnH tho
O VV...V. V..V
bathrooms of the Russell
House and the Thomas
Cooper Library are a
problem.
I'm sick of using a urinal
in the library only to see a
lone eyeball glaring at me
through one of those "homo
holes" bored into the side of
a stall. If I knew it wouldn't
excite them so much, I'd
turn to my side and pee
directly into the hole.
As for a solution to the
problem, I think I have an
idea.
THE SCHOOL will hire a
special force to watch the
? l ...l?? : ~i- A
places wiieic lags picK. u>
have their fun. When they're
caught, they're fit with one
of two types of chastity belts.
One would be sort of like a
catcher's cup, only it would
TO THE EDITOR :
Move over, Anita Bryant.
As much as I hate to kick a
girl when she's lost her
orange juice contract,
you've been replaced by one
of USC's own. His name is
Don Weatherbee and he is
ready to put gay people
"back in the closet with dirty
laundry."
Mr. Weatherbee's conversion
to the cause of
supression of anyone who
doesn't walk the straight and
narrow occured on
Halloween night when he
stumbled accross two guys
carrying-on in the stall of a
third-floor Hussell House
bathroom..
So traumatized by the
incident, Mr. weatnerbee
has joined Anita's cause and
devoted half a page of last
Wednesday's Gamecock to
espousing various methods
of "closing the closet."
MR. WEATIIERREF T
am a student at this school.
And I happen to be gay. It
hurts me to read an article
that compares my gay
brothers and sisters to
"dirty laundry" and labels
Opinioi
imply Halloween phenomena,
were the subject of news arwith
witnessess' accounts of
y will be in the future.
Russell House page recently
on the job, had to liberate the
ter leaving the Gamecock ofling
open the doors of some
asn i sure ai ine ume now uie
i now I suspect it was the work
is knowledge, that I was going
itions in the Russell House. So,
the disgust I felt toward those
n disgusted with myself, not
two homos, but because I've
voidable issue. I never fully
I out of the closet like so much
od created Adam and Eve,
neone created an Adam and
has been around a lone time.
in empire.
be futile to try to stop
he Editor
be worn backwards. The
other would be a muzzle, like
the kind that's put on a
vicious dog. Both of these
belts would be fitted with a
time lock and these locks
would be adjusted for the
severity of the crime. Let's
say about 30 days for being
caught in the bathroom to 60
days for being caught, say,
by the reflection pool in front
of the library.
Of course, the first step of
this project would be to get
Dr. Holderman to approve
the necessary funds to hire
such a special force, not to
mention what it would cost to
design and build these timelock
chastity belts. But
maybe, if he were to try to
take a leak in a bathroom
where some fruitcake
watched him through a little
hole, some sort of real
solution to this problem
might result.
NAME WITHHELD BY
REQUEST
us by the vulgar slang term
"homos." Those were cheap
shots, Mr. Weatherbee.
Neither I nor any other
self-respecting gay student
would try to defend those two
guys in the bathroom. They
should have gone elsewhere
to enjoy themselves. But,
narrow-minded, name-calling
bigots like yourself, Mr.
Weatherbee, are precisely
the reason gay people must
live their lives "in the
closet" and sneak around to
have sex behind bushes, in
cars, and, yes in empty
bathrooms.
You must realize, Mr.
Weatherbee, that gay people
deserve your full respect and
chntllH Kxi op
MiavuiM MX/ UUU1 WOV/U CIO
honest-to-God human beings
with honest-to-God feelings.
Yes gay people are different.
But this doesn't make them
any better or any worse than
anybody else.
Here's hoping that you will
continue to grow and learn at
mis scnooi. /\na may you
develop the confidence that
will enable you to accept
those different from yourself
without intimidation.
NAME WITHHELD B\
KEQUES1
M A IftABlJ
VI #WVV I
homosexuality, besides it
heterosexual dating. But bein
I am, I'm content with the re
put the gays back in the clos<
least getting them out of the ui
AT FIRST I thought may*
maintenance installed har
bathroom doors, but then I re
doors easily.
A friend of mine suggeste
made as small as possible,
functioning movement, the g
meeting places. But this pla
time consuming.
He then suggested placing v
in the bathrooms that would s
one man occupied small are
suggestion fails for the same r
SO I AM still open to
heterosexual readers who 1
proDiem. until an enrorceaou
is designed and put into
heterosexuals will continue to
TO THE EDITOR:
Probably you will receive
a large volume of mail in the
next week or so regarding
the "editorial" by Don
Weatherbee in Nov. 11
Gamecock entitled "Close
the Closet." Allow me to be
one of the first respondents.
I will not bother to refute
Mr. Weatherbee's
"arguments" individually so
let me preface my
statements with the remark
that this editorial was a
remarkably bad piece of
journalism: satire should be
funny, not dumb! Mr.
Weatherbee's work reflects
poorly not only on himself,
hi 11 nn (ha
Mub vii vuvs vjurrictu^K, uic
University and on
heterosexuals.
MY NEXT remark is by
way of clearing the air, so
that biased morons will not
need to call me a queer. I am
bisexual by nature (as are
all people ? take Intro, to
Pcvnh ^ anrl nrn^nminonlln
_ via./ utiu pi vuuiniiiaiii.ij'
homosexual by preference. I
believe homosexuality and
heterosexuality are choices
(learned behaviors) and the
animosity which Mr.
Weatherbee feels occurs as a
result of role confusion,
I GAMl
| I University o< South C
IFouik
Newsroom: 777-7181
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Maii Platte
Beth Sundrla Copy Desk Chief
David Corvette News Editor
Tom Coyne Asst. News Editor
Don Weatherbee . . . Editorial Pa^e Editor
Mike Roma towski . . . Entertainment Editor
I ami. tni. taMor
Mark Ithridge |r Adviser
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Opinion* expressed in the Gamecock t
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f- fiivur
lessens the competition for
g the liberal sort of person that
asonable objective of trying to
it with the dirty laundry, or at A
liversity's bathrooms.
>e gays would be dissuaded if
d-to-turn doorknobs on the
alized two gays would open the
H that If thft hdfhtvmmc tuoro
so as to allow only minimal
(ays would look elsewhere for
n would be too expensive and
weight-triggered alarm systems
ound the alert when more than ?
as in the bathrooms. But this
eason his first one did.
suggestions/ preferably from
lave to cope with the same
i plan to liberate the bathrooms
effect, ' I and many other
be intimidated.
insecurity and
dissatisfaction with self.
This is the prime cause of 0
"homophobia." Homophobia
? fear of gays ? is a disease
whose end result is the
ignorant passion found in
Hitler's dictatorship and
Jerry Falwell's misnamed
Moral Majority (for it is
neither ? and just as poorly
reasoned and dangerous as
Mr. Weatherbee's article.)
Homophobia is cured only be
education and maturity ?
grow up, Mr. Weatherbee!
Secondly, I would like to
address Mr. Weatherbee's
statement: 4 4.
.homosexuality has been
around a long time.
Remember the infamous
Roman Empire."
Homosexuality was indeed
prevalent and accepted in
the ancient Egyptian,
Roman and especially Greek a
cultures (read Plato's ^
Symposium.) Isn't it interesting
to note that these
three cultures were incredibly
advanced artistically,
governmentally,
culturally and
technologically. The only
See "Letters" Page 14
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